"Ridge Roofing, Inc." wrote:

I have a spring fed pond that is approximately 120,000 gallons and is
stocked with trout. The water is very green with lots of algae plants
on the bottom. I did use aquazyme and it did nothing to help. After
reading many of the posts here Im still not sure where to start. I
have been told that potassium permanganate will solve this problem.
Also that bentonite clay might help. I've also read some posts that
talk of good algae? Can anyone help me?

Hi Pete, I have a smaller spring fed pond about 30 miles from you. It
is an 18,000 gallon (17'x 47'x 2-4') lily pond garden which is spring
fed. I started it up last spring. It starts out with string algae in
the early spring but is clear now. I have lots of plants to control the
nutrients and used two chemical treatments in the spring.

1) Applied one dose of algaecide (AlgaeFix) in early April to get a
start in clearing the spring algae growth.

2) Added bacteria (Microbe-Lift Spring/Summer) in early April to help
eliminate the dead algae and other organic matter.

I don't have trout, just Golden Shiner Minnows, so I have less of a
nutrient load. Also, I never feed the fish. Other things I have done
a

o Floated a bale of barley straw near the spring pipe. (It is available
from Weaver's Hardware on the Fleetwood-Lyons road. Some clerks don't
know they have it, but they do.) It eliminates algae but only works
when the water warms up in the spring.

o Introduced trap-door snails into the pond. They eat the dead algae.

o Sunk oxygenator plants on the bottom (anacharis). They help the
general health of the pond by keeping the oxygen level up.

o Planted about 64 marginal filter plants in baskets with clay soil and
no fertilizer about 5" deep around the edge. They consume the nutrients
the algae live on.

o No filter and no pump.

I noticed a slight methane smell on the bottom so I am in the process of
installing an oxygenator pump. It is 40 watts so it won't cost an arm
and a leg to run it. I got it from Riverview Park Nursery on Pricetown
Road near Reading. It is a Pondmaster AP-40 and is described at:

http://www.mops.ca/cgi-bin/SoftCart.....asp?E+scstore

http://www.dannermfg.com/Instruction...rPumpInst.html

The marginal plants I have and planting depth a

Forget Me Not Myosotis scorpioides (6"-8")
Swamp Iris
Blue Water Iris Iris versicolor (2"-4")
Arum
Water Clover
Yellow Flag Iris psuedacorus (2"-4')
Pickerel Rush Pontederia cordata (2"-2.5")
Water Pennywort
Dwarf Papyrus
Blue Rush Juncus inflexus (2"-3")
Marsh Marigold Caltha palustrus? (1"- 1.5")
Chinese Lizard's Tail Saururus chinensus (l"-3")
Sweet Flag Acorus calamus (8")
Monkey Flower New Mimulus ringes
Blue Lobelia Lobelia siphilitica (2"-2.5")
Golden Monkey Flower yellow-Mimulus luteus (1"-3")

The floaters a

Water Hyacinth Eichhornia crassipes

The oxygenator plants I have a

Anacharis Egeria densa
Hornwortt Ceratophyllum demersum


Riverview is good for plants. But from April 1 to July 1, Black Creek
Greenhouse off route 625 in Lancaster County is the best place for water
plants. It is about a couple miles north of Shady Maple (rt. 23). If
you go to Riverview Nursery, ask to speak to Seth. He is a pond expert.

Good Luck!
--
Pardon my spam deterrent; send email to
18,000 gallon (17'x 47'x 2-4') lily pond garden in Zone 6
Cheers, Steve Henning in Reading, PA USA